Coal Perhitungan Cadangan USGS

Chapter C
Methodology for Calculating Coal Resources for the Colorado Plateau, U.S. Geological Survey National Coal Assessment
By Laura N.R. Roberts, 1 Michael E. Brownfield, 1 Robert D. Hettinger,1 and Edward A. Johnson1
Chapter C of
National Coal Resource Assessment
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Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
Edited by M.A. Kirschbaum, L.N.R. Roberts, and L.R.H. Biewick
U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625B*
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado 80225
* This report, although in the USGS Professional Paper series, is available only on CD-ROM and is not available separately
U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. C1 Tools and Input .............................................................................................................................................. 4 Initial Step ............................................................................................................................................. 4 Data ........................................................................................................................................................ 7 Software .............................................................................................................................................. 10 Coal-Thickness Data .................................................................................................................................. 11 Resource Polygons..................................................................................................................................... 15 Gridded Surfaces ............................................................................................................................... 18 Case Study 1: Southern Piceance Basin ....................................................................................... 19 Case Study 2: Danforth Hills Coal Field .......................................................................................... 22 Resource Calculations .............................................................................................................................. 26 Generating Resource Tables..................................................................................................................... 30 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................. 31 References Cited ........................................................................................................................................ 31
Figures
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Priority coal assessment units in the Colorado Plateau ...................................................... C1 Flow chart for production of maps and coal resource tables............................................... 2 Priority coal assessment units of the Colorado Plateau and their associated bounding rectangles ............................................................................................... 4 Geographic and cultural data within bounding rectangle..................................................... 5 Gridded and contoured data within bounding rectangle....................................................... 6 Example of interpreted geophysical log ................................................................................... 7 Geologic map of southern part of the Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado............... 8 Example of shaded-relief topography generated from a digital elevation model ............. 9 Software packages used in the Colorado Plateau coal assessment and their position within flow chart shown in figure 2 ......................................................... 10 Part of flow chart showing where coal-thickness data were processed and verified.................................................................................................... 11 Example isopach map of net total coal using a regular contour interval, Cameo/Wheeler coal zone, southern Piceance Basin, Colorado ...................................... 12 Example map of coal-thickness categories, C coal zone, Yampa coal field, Colorado ....................................................................................................... 13 Hypothetical grid of net-coal thickness showing values at each grid node .................... 14 Example of the extent of bounding rectangle compared to more detailed resource polygon .............................................................................................. 15
15. 16.
17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.
25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33.
Example cross section showing position of coal zones stratigraphically above mappable marine sandstone units that are marker horizons ............................................. 16 Photograph of Trout Creek Sandstone Member of the Iles Formation, overlain by coal-bearing Williams Fork Formation, Yampa coal field, northwestern Colorado.............................................................................................................. 17 Structure contours on top of Rollins Sandstone Member, southern Piceance Basin, Colorado........................................................................................ 18 Diagrammatic stratigraphic column showing distribution of coal zones in Mesaverde Group or Mesaverde Formation, southern Piceance Basin .......................... 19 Cross-section view of surfaces of Rollins Sandstone Member and coal zones in Southern Piceance Basin assessment unit ....................................................................... 20 Map view of distribution of Rollins Sandstone Member and coal zones in Southern Piceance Basin assessment unit ........................................................................... 21 Overburden to top of the Trout Creek Sandstone Member, Danforth Hills coal field, northwestern, Colorado................................................................. 22 Generalized stratigraphic column of coal zones in Danforth Hills coal field showing average distance above Trout Creek Sandstone Member.................................. 23 Cross section and map view of the distribution of Trout Creek Sandstone Member and D coal zone, Danforth Hills coal field, northwestern Colorado................................... 24 Resource polygons generated using structural surface of Trout Creek Sandstone Member, average thickness of each coal zone, and digital elevation model, Danforth Hills coal field, Colorado ............................................................ 25 Part of flow chart showing where contour data are converted to ARC/INFO coverages............................................................................................................. 26 Individual polygon coverages unioned using ARC/INFO to create a coverage that was clipped with the resource polygon ......................................................................... 27 Final unioned polygon coverage created from union of all other polygon coverages that contain data for reporting coal-resource tonnage................................... 28 Part of flow chart showing where coal resources are calculated .................................... 29 Example output file from running volumetrics in EarthVision ............................................. 29 Example output file from running evrpt program ................................................................ 29 Part of flow chart showing where coal resource tables are generated........................... 30 Example of table created in ArcView by joining output from evrpt with attribute table of unioned polygon coverage................................................................ 30 Example of coal resource table generated using Pivot Table function within Excel.................................................................................................................. 30
By Laura N.R. Roberts, Michael E. Browneld, Robert D. Hettinger, and Edward A. Johnson
113 Priority assessment units Coal-bearing strata Study area 40 Assessment units referred to in this Chapter 1. So. Wasatch Plateau 2. Deserado 1 3. Danforth Hills 4. Yampa 5. So. Piceance Basin 6. San Juan Basin 106
4 2 3
40
Introduction
The coal assessment of the Colorado Plateau used four main criteria for prioritizing assessment units within the region: (1) areas containing signicant mineral ownership that are administered by the Federal Government, (2) areas that have active coal mining, (3) areas where coal-bed methane is currently being produced or coal is the source rock for gas production, and (4) areas that have a high resource or development potential. The result of this endeavor is a detailed assessment of more than 20 coal zones in ve formations in the Colorado Plateau region (g. 1). This report describes the steps we used in an automated process to calculate coal resources and to produce the numerous accompanying maps for each assessment unit.
UT CO AZ NM
Colorado Plateau study area
34
34
0 113
100 Miles 106
Figure 1. Priority coal assessment units in the Colorado Plateau.
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We established an accurate, reliable, and time-efcient method of combining an ASCII-formatted le containing location (x, y) and coal-thickness data with multiple layers of digital geologic and geographic data to ultimately arrive at high-quality end-products that show the distribution of coal resources (g. 2).
Identify bounding rectangle to limit general area where coal zones are to be assessed
EarthVision
StratiFact Collect stratigraphic data from geophysical logs and measured sections, and store in StratiFact database
ARC/INFO
Data from StratiFact queries imported into EarthVision for calculating interpretive isopach and structure maps
EarthVision
A Collect digital map data (geologic/geographic) and generate ARC/INFO coverages
Generate in EarthVision coal thickness grids to plot isopach maps, create coal-thicknesscategory coverages and use in coal-resource calculations
ismarc2 convert-ism.aml
Plot contour maps, check data, revise database (quality control)
ARC/INFO
Convert contour data to digital coverages using ismarc and convert-ism.aml
C Generate resource polygon
Union coverages from A and B into a single coverage and clip with resource polygon C
Import unioned coverage into EarthVision and run volumetrics
evrpt
Methods were also developed to dene areal limits of coal zones using a structural datum and a digital elevation model. As many as six commercially available software packages were used in conjunction with three custom programs to process the digital data. These programs range from simple conversion programs to highly sophisticated geographic information systems (GIS), two-dimensional geologic modeling programs, and spreadsheet software.
Convert output from volumetrics report to table of tonnage values and other information Join tonnage table with attributes of unioned polygon coverage in ArcView save as ASCII or .dbf file
Generate resource tables using 'Pivot table' in Excel
ArcView
Excel
Figure 2. Flow chart for production of maps and coal resource tables.
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Computer technology has it benets and its shortcomings when it comes to representation of geologic data. In order to use a geographic information system, we create digital les that contain data that represent a mapped geologic unit or a well location (in projected map units) and record the x, y accuracy of that line or point to as many as 4 decimal places. We know that the x, y string representing that line is not accurate to that level. The data are only useful and reliable at the scale at which they were captured. Even then, care must be taken when using these digital data.
The benets present themselves when we are asked to provide the best, most up-to-date estimate for coal tonnage for a particular coal zone in a particular area and, for example, for a particular overburden and coal-thickness category. We cannot provide a timely answer unless we have a database to query that contains all these parameters.
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Tools and Input

A study of such scope as the coal assessment of the Colorado Plateau required a plan that could be followed step-by-step, data for input, and tools to manipulate and process the data.
EarthVision1
StratiFact1
EarthVision1
ARC/INFO1 Collect digital map data (geologic/geographic) and generate ARC/INFO1 coverages
Calculate interpretive maps from queries of StratiFact1 database (isopachs, structure, etc.)
Collect stratigraphic data from geophysical logs and measured sections, and store in StratiFact1 database
Generate coal thickness grid to plot isopach maps, to create coal-thickness-category coverages and to use in coal resource calculations
ismarc2 convert-ism.aml2
Initial Step
After the study areas or assessment units of the Colorado Plateau were prioritized, based on the four main criteria, the next step was to identify a rectangular box slightly larger than each of the areas to be assessed (g. 3). The size and location of the rectangle was based on our preliminary knowledge of the coal geology in each area.
Priority assessment units Coal-bearing strata Study area 40 Assessment units referred to in this chapter 1. So. Wasatch Plateau 2. Deserado 1 3. Danforth Hills 4. Yampa 5. So. Piceance Basin 6. San Juan Basin
Convert contour data to digital coverages using ismarc2 and convert-ism.aml2 B C
ARC/INFO1
113 Generate resource polygon
106
Import unioned coverage into EarthVision1 Run volumetrics
evrpt2
40
Generate resource tables using 'Pivot table' in Excel1
Convert output from volumetrics report to table of tonnage values and other information
5
Join tonnage table with attributes of unioned polygon coverage in ArcView1 save as ASCII or .dbf file
ArcView1
Excel1
Colorado Plateau study area (part)
The initial purpose for identifying the bounding rectangle was that it limited our search for stratigraphic data to include in the database.
UT CO
Bounding rectangle
AZ NM
0 113
50 Miles 106
Figure 3. Priority coal assessment units of the Colorado Plateau and their associated bounding rectangles. The top part of the ow chart shown in gure 2 is also shown. In discussing this and following ow charts, the relevant part(s) of the ow chart will be shown clearly as on gure 2, but nearby boxes that are not relevant to the discussion will be grayed-out.
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Geographic and Cultural Maps

; ;; ;;; ;;;; ;;;; ;;;;; ;;;;; ;;;; ;;;;; ;;;;; ;;;; ;;;; ;;;;; ;;; ; ;;;; ; ;;; ;;;; ;; ;;;; ;;; ; ; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; Lease area;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ; ;; ; ;; ;;;; ; ; ; ; ;;;;; ; ; ;; ;; ; ; ; ; ;
BOUNDING RECTANGLE Townships

The maximum and minimum x and y values of this bounding rectangle were used to clip data collected from sources at national, State, and regional scales. These data include such coverages as roads, counties, public land survey systems (township and range), hydrology, quadrangles, surface and mineral ownership (g. 4), and geology. For the most part, these data were retrieved from internet sites.
7.5' quadrangles
Counties
Surface ownership Federal State and private Coal ownership

Figure 4. Geographic and cultural data within the bounding rectangle. Example from Deserado coal assessment unit, northwestern Colorado.
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Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah Ultimately, the bounding rectangle was used to limit gridding and contouring of data that resulted in interpretive maps. These data include net-coal thickness, coal-zone thickness, overburden thickness for isopach maps (g. 5), and elevations on the top of a structural datum for structure contour maps.
Interpretative Maps
BOUNDING RECTANGLE
3.5 2.3 3.5 1.2 7 3.5 1.2 7 14 2.3
2.3
Coal-thickness categories (ft)

< 1.2 1.2 - 2.3 2.3 - 3.5 3.5 - 7 7 - 14 > 14
2.3 7 7
3.5
2.3
information not shown for lease area
Overburden categories (ft)

< 500 500 - 1000 1000 - 1500 > 1500
Figure 5. Gridded and contoured data within the bounding rectangle. Examples from Deserado coal assessment unit, Lower White River coal eld, northwestern Colorado.
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Data
The main sources of stratigraphic data are geophysical logs of holes drilled for coal (g. 6), oil, and gas exploration and descriptions of stratigraphic sections measured in the eld.
Sandstone
Coal A coal zone
Vertical scale 100 ft
50
Figure 6. Example of interpreted geophysical log, Yampa coal eld, northwestern Colorado. Modied from Johnson and others (chap. P, this CD-ROM).
Trout Creek Sandstone Member

Natural Gamma Density
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Explanation
Qs Te
Geologic information consisted mainly of published geologic maps that were either available digitally or were digitized in-house from published maps (g. 7).
Surficial deposits (Holocene and Pleistocene) Extrusive igneous rocks (Miocene and Oligocene) Intrusive igneous rocks (Miocene and Oligocene) Uinta and Green River Formations (Eocene) Wasatch (Paleocene and Eocene). The map unit, as compiled by Tweto (1979), may include strata in the upper part of the Ohio Creek Formation (R.C. Johnson, personal commun., 1999). Mesaverde Group and Mesaverde Formation (Cretaceous). Mancos Shale (Cretaceous) Rocks older than the Mancos Shale (Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic, Permian, Pennsylvanian, Mississippian, Devonian, Ordovician, and Cambrian)
SYNCLINE ANTICLINE MONOCLINE
109 39 o45'
104 W
108
103 102 101 100 99 98 97 96 95
Ti Tug
94 93 92
RIO BLANCO
Tw
4S
91
90 W 5S
GARFIELD
Kmv
Glenwood Springs
Km
6S
KCr
7S
8S
FAULT--Bar and ball on downthrown side. THRUST FAULT--Sawteeth on upper plate.
PITKIN
9S
UTAH COLORADO
2N 100 W 99 W 98 10 S 104 W 103 1N 3W 2W 1W 1E
MESA GUNNISON
1S 11 S
Grand Junction
39 o 109 o
DELTA
2S
39 o
10
0
southern part of the Piceance Basin
10 Miles
13 S 3S 2E
Paonia
many faults
Crested Butte
14 S 4S 3E 96 W 95 94 93 92 W
many faults
15 S
COLORADO
91 W
90
89
88
87
86
85 W
Figure 7. Geologic map of southern part of the Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado. Modied from the digital geologic map of Colorado (Green, 1992). Illustration from Hettinger and others (chap. O, this CD-ROM).
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Digital elevation models (DEMs) were used to represent topography of the Earths surface (g. 8). These models are available at different scales from the USGS Global Land Information System (see website at http://edc.usgs.gov/webglis). We used these data to generate polygons for the resource areas, overburden isopach maps, and polygons that dene overburden categories for the assessed coal zones.
Figure 8. Example of shaded-relief topography generated from a digital elevation model (DEM), Danforth Hills coal eld, northwestern Colorado.
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Software
Stratigraphic data were entered into a relational database software package specically designed for these kinds of data (StratiFact, Gallegos Research Group, Inc.). The querying and ltering capabilities of StratiFact allow for the output of ASCII-format les that contain information that can be imported into a two-dimensional modeling software package. These les contain data for location (x and y elds) and such data as net-coal thickness, elevation to top and (or) base of key horizons, and thickness of coalbearing intervals.
EarthVision
StratiFact1 Collect stratigraphic data from geophysical logs and measured sections, and store in StratiFact1 database
ARC/INFO1
EarthVision
A Collect digital map data (geologic/geographic) and generate ARC/INFO1 coverages
We also used the vectorbased GIS ARC/INFO (ESRI, 1998a) for storing polygon coverages.
ARC/INFO1
Convert contour data to digital coverages using ismarc2 and convert-ism.aml2
Generate resource polygon
EarthVision (Dynamic Graphics, Inc., 1997) was used to generate interpretive maps by gridding and contouring data extracted from StratiFact queries (g. 2) and for calculating coal resource estimates. The capabilities within EarthVision to perform mathematical functions on grids and to plot and save virtually any contour line as an ASCII string of coordinates from a grid were used extensively.
Import unioned coverage into EarthVision1 Run volumetrics
evrpt2
Convert output from volumetrics report to table of tonnage values and other information Join tonnage table with attributes of unioned polygon coverage in ArcView1 save as ASCII or .dbf file
ArcView1
1 Commercial software 2 Custom program
Excel1
Figure 9. Software packages used in the Colorado Plateau coal assessment and their position within the ow chart shown in gure 2.
We used three custom programs to convert contour lines generated from grids in EarthVision to ARC/INFO polygon coverages. Details of the conversion process are documented in previous reports (Roberts and Biewick, 1999; Roberts and others, 1998). ArcView (ESRI, 1998b) was used for desktop mapping, data verication, and nal data-table generation, and Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Corporation, 1997) was used to store coal tonnage gures and to create resource tables.
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Coal-Thickness Data
Coal-tonnage estimates were calculated by multiplying coal thickness by area by the average weight of bituminous-rank coal (short tons per acrefoot; Wood and others, 1983). Data related to coal thickness and area must be as accurate as possible (g. 10). A discussion of how the thickness data were derived, what they represent, and how they were used in the nal reporting of coal resources follows.
EarthVision
ARC/INFO1
EarthVision
A Collect digital map data (geologic/geographic) and generate ARC/INFO1 coverages
Figure 10. Part of ow chart (g. 2) showing where coal-thickness data were processed and veried.
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Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah We used 1.0 or 1.2 ft as a minimum thickness for resource consideration based on a modification of the coal-bed-thickness criteria for bituminous coal (Wood and others, 1983). An ASCII-formatted le was created from a query of the StratiFact database containing the x, y values for location at each data point and a value for the net thickness of coal for the coal zone. The data were imported into EarthVision as a scattered data le. The data were gridded using the x, y limits of the bounding rectangle.
109
108 30'
108
107 30'
39 45'
39 30'
The coal isopach grid has several functions. First, the grid was contoured with a regular contour interval for displaying a coal isopach map (g. 11). Plotting an isopach map often reveals problems with the data or errors in interpretation and is therefore valuable for quality control. Several iterations of the gridding and contouring process were sometimes required.
Total net thickness of coal 0-20 20-40 40-60 60-80 >80
39
10
10 Miles
Figure 11. Example isopach map of net total coal using a regular contour interval, Cameo/Wheeler coal zone, southern Piceance Basin, Colorado.
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Second, the nal coal-thickness grid was contoured with an irregular contour interval (g. 12)that is, only those contours that represent the boundaries of net-coal-thickness categories for bituminous coal, which are the 1.2-ft, 2.3-ft, 3.5-ft, 7.0-ft and 14-ft contour lines (Wood and others, 1983). The lines eventually became polygon boundaries for the ARC/INFO coverage of coal-thickness categories, which is one of the parameters for reporting coal resource estimates.
107 45'
107 30' 40 37' 30''
40 30'

1.2 - 2.3 2.3 - 3.5 3.5 - 7 7 - 14 > 14
5 Miles
Figure 12. Example map of coal-thickness categories, C coal zone, Yampa coal eld, Colorado.
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Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah Finally, the coal-thickness grid was used in the process of calculating coal volume and tonnage in EarthVision. The thickness values of the grid nodes, from the two-dimensional grid of coal thickness (g. 13), supplied the thickness values used to calculate the coal tonnage within each polygon.
Figure 13. Hypothetical grid of net-coal thickness showing values at each grid node.
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Resource Polygons
In addition to data related to coal thickness, data related to the area within which resources are to be calculated are very important. This area is referred to as a resource polygon. The resource polygon differs from the bounding rectangle, discussed earlier in this report, in that it more accurately depicts the areal distribution of the coal zone (g. 14).
BOUNDING RECTANGLE
Many factors were used to dene the boundaries for the resource-polygon areas. A few examples include: (1) areas where the coal zone is exposed at the surface, (2) areas where the coal is too thin or too deep to qualify as a resource using criteria of Wood and others (1983), and (3) areas where data are too sparse to adequately assess the coal zone. Resource polygons are the single most important polygons because they limit the resource. They may also be the most difcult to create, especially in the case where a large part of the boundary is dened by where the coal zone is exposed at the surface.
RESOURCE POLYGON
Figure 14. Example of the extent of the bounding rectangle compared to the more detailed resource polygon. Shaded-relief topography of Danforth Hills coal eld in the background, northwestern Colorado.
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Many of the coal zones that were assessed in the Colorado Plateau are directly above recognizable marker horizons (i.e., marine sandstone units) that can be mapped on the surface and, because of a fairly distinctive geophysical log signature, can also be mapped in the subsurface (g. 15).
100
Cross section scales 100 ft

100 100 100
50
100
0 2.5 mi Horizontal distance in miles between drill holes
Big White
Mappable marine sandstone Coal Coal zone

Twentymile Barren interval
NG D Natural Gamma Density NG D NG D NG D
500 500 500 500
500
NG
NG
2.5 mi
2.5 mi
3.1 mi
2.0 mi
Figure 15. Example cross section showing position of coal zones stratigraphically above mappable marine sandstone units that are the marker horizons. Modied from Johnson and others (chap. P, this CD-ROM).
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Figure 16. Cliffs are the Trout Creek Sandstone Member of the Iles Formation, which is overlain by the coal-bearing Williams Fork Formation, Yampa coal eld, northwestern Colorado. Photograph by E.A. Johnson, 1978.
Digitized lines representing the exposures of the top of these marker horizons (i.e., the Pictured Cliffs Sandstone in the San Juan Basin, the Star Point Sandstone in the southern Wasatch Plateau, and the Trout Creek Sandstone Member of the Iles Formation in the Yampa coal eld (g. 16)) were used to partially dene the resource polygon for the overlying coal zones (i.e., the Fruitland Formation, lower Blackhawk Formation, and Williams Fork Formation, respectively). A problem arises in cases where a coal zone to be assessed has not been mapped on the surface and is not associated with a distinct marker horizon. In these cases, the location of the pseudo-outcrop must be estimated using innovative techniques. A description of some tools and techniques used to generate these pseudo-outcrops is provided in the following section along with two case studies.
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Gridded Surfaces
Initially, two grids are generated in EarthVision, each of which represents a surface. One is a grid of a digital elevation model (DEM) that represents the surface topography in the study area. The other is a grid that represents a structural datum, such as the top of a mappable marine sandstone unit. From a query of the StratiFact database, a le is generated that contains elds for location (x and y) and elevation of the structural datum (for example, the Rollins Sandstone in the southern Piceance Basin; g. 17).
109 108 30' 108 107 30' 39 45'
5000
6000 6000
-4000 -3000 -2000 39 45'
6000 6000
7000
-2000
2000
3000 -1000 6000 6000
0 1000 2000
4000 39
10
10
Miles
6000
7000 8000 9000

1000 0
Figure 17. Structure contours on top of the Rollins Sandstone Member, southern Piceance Basin, Colorado.
Information on the elevation of this datum from other sources, such as outcrop measurements or published structure contour maps, is added to the drill-hole data in order to provide as much control as possible, especially where the structural datum is exposed at the surface. All of these data are gridded in EarthVision to create a two-dimensional grid le that represents the surface on the structural datum. Structure contours are then plotted from this grid le. The best possible representation of this surface on top of the structural datum is critical because additional surfaces are generated from it.
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Case Study 1: Southern Piceance Basin

To create resource polygons for the coal zones assessed in the southern Piceance Basin (g. 1), we combined a grid of thickness with a structure contour grid of the top of the Rollins Sandstone Member to generate pseudo-outcrops.
Mesaverde Group (part) or Formation (part)
Base of Coal Ridge coal zone
In this case study, a data set was extracted from StratiFact that contains x, y, z data, where z is the thickness between the top of the Rollins (a good marker horizon in this area) (g. 18) and the base of the overlying South Canyon coal zone.
Base of South Canyon coal zone
Base of Cameo/Wheeler coal zone Top of Rollins Sandstone Member (mappable sandstone unit)
Figure 18. Diagrammatic stratigraphic column showing distribution of coal zones in the Mesaverde Group or Mesaverde Formation, southern Piceance Basin.
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These thickness data were gridded and then, using the Formula Processor utility in EarthVision, the resultant thickness grid was added to the grid of the structural surface on the top of the Rollins Sandstone Member. The resulting grid is a pseudo-structure grid on the base of the South Canyon coal zone (g. 19).
Elevation (ft) above mean sea level 10,000
Pseudo-outcrop of base of Coal Ridge
Pseudo-outcrop of base of South Canyon Outcrop of top of Rollins
Vertical exageration approximately x 3
Surface from DEM
5,000
Overburden to base of Coal Ridge coal zone Pseudo-structural surface, base of Coal Ridge
Overburden to top of Rollins

0 -2,000
Overburden to base of South Canyon coal zone

10,000 20,000
Pseudo-structural surface, base of South Canyon
Cameo/Wheeler coal zone

0 Distance (meters) 30,000 40,000 50,000
B'
Figure 19. Cross-section view of surfaces of Rollins Sandstone Member and coal zones in the Southern Piceance Basin assessment unit. Location of cross section B-B is shown on g. 20.
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This pseudo-structure grid on the base of the South Canyon coal zone was then subtracted from the DEM grid of topography, resulting in a grid of overburden thickness to the base of the coal zone. The zero overburden line generated from this grid represents the pseudo-outcrop line for the base of the South Canyon coal zone and denes the areal limits of the coal zone, at least along the northeastern and southern parts of the area (g. 20). The western limit of the area is represented by a line where the net-coal thickness becomes less than 1.2 ft.
109
108 30'
108
Dashed portion of resource polygons for Coal Ridge and South Canyon coal zones indicate where net coal thins to less than 1.2' thick
see detail
B'
B'
20 Miles
39
Outcrop, top of Rollins Areal distribution of Cameo/Wheeler coal zone Areal distribution of South Canyon coal zone
Teriary intrusives
southern part of the Piceance Basin
COLORADO
Pseudo-outcrop, base of Coal Ridge coal zone
Figure 20. Map view of distribution of Rollins Sandstone Member and coal zones in the Southern Piceance Basin assessment unit.
The polygon dening the areal limits of the overlying Coal Ridge coal zone (g. 21) was generated by adding the thickness grid of the South Canyon coal zone to the pseudo-structure on the base of the South Canyon coal zone and subtracting that resultant grid from the DEM topography. Again, the zero overburden line generated from this nal grid represents the pseudo-outcrop line for the base of the Coal Ridge coal zone and partially denes the areal limits of this coal zone.
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Case Study 2: Danforth Hills Coal Field

In this case, it was impossible to use grids of coal-zone thickness added to the top of the structural datum to create pseudo-structure grids and overburden grids because, in the Danforth Hills coal eld, seven coal zones stratigraphically overlie the structural datum (the Trout Creek Sandstone Member of the Iles Formation) and the interval between the base of each successively higher coal zone is not very thickin all cases less than 300 ft. The irregular distribution of coal-zone-thickness data precluded generating coal-zone isopach grids that, when added to the structural datum, would adequately represent a surface. When we tried the method used for the southern Piceance Basin, the result was computer-generated (pseudo) outcrop lines of the coal zones that, when plotted simultaneously, would cross each other in several places.
Outcrop, top of Trout Creek Sandstone Member
Using the Formula Processor utility in EarthVision, we created a grid of overburden thickness by subtracting the gridded surface of the top of the Trout Creek Sandstone Member (structural datum) from the gridded surface of the topography. This resultant grid represents the thickness between the two surfacesin other words, the thickness of overburden to the top of the Trout Creek. Once the grid of overburden thickness was calculated, an overburden isopach map was generated depicting the lines of equal overburden thickness above the Trout Creek (g. 21).
Overburden categories (in feet) 0-500 500-1000 1000-2000 2000-3000 3000-6000 0 5 Miles
Figure 21. Overburden to top of the Trout Creek Sandstone Member, Danforth Hills coal eld, northwestern, Colorado.
Average distance (in ft) above the Trout Creek Sandstone Member 1050
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970
Base of G coal zone
From a query of the StratiFact database, we then calculated the average distance (in feet) above the top of the Trout Creek Sandstone Member to the base of each of six coal zones (g. 22).
Williams Fork Formation (part)
760
Base of F coal zone
480
Base of E coal zone
350
Base of D coal zone
240
Base of C coal zone
130
Base of B coal zone
Base of A coal zone Top of Trout Creek Sandstone Member(mappable marine sandstone unit)
Figure 22. Generalized stratigraphic column of coal zones in the Danforth Hills coal eld showing average distance (in ft) above the Trout Creek Sandstone Member.
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A
8400 8000 7600 7200 6800 6400 6000 5600 5200 0 2000 4000 6000
Surface topography from Digital Elevation Models
350-ft overburden line to top of Trout Creek Sandstone Outcrop of top and 'pseudo' outcrop of of Trout Creek base of D coal zone Sandstone
A'
Base of D coal zone

350 ft
Top of Trout Creek Sandstone

8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000
For example, the stratigraphic distance above the top of the Trout Creek to the base of the D coal zone is, on average, 350 ft. Because this stratigraphic distance is equivalent to the average thickness of rock lying between the coal zone and the top of the Trout Creek, we can also interpret that, on average, 350 ft of overburden would separate the base of the D coal zone from the Trout Creek.
Outcrop, top of Trout Creek Sandstone
350-ft overburden line to top of Trout Creek Sandstone and 'pseudo' outcrop of base of D coal zone
Top of Trout Creek Sandstone
By this reasoning, we also interpreted that the D coal zone is only present in areas of the coal eld where overburden to the top of the Trout Creek would be equal to or greater than 350 ft. Therefore, the 350-ft overburden line was used to dene the maximum areal extent of the D coal zone and, thus, was considered as a pseudo-outcrop line (in map view) for the D coal zone (g. 23).
Area where overburden to top of Trout Creek is less than 350 ft Areal distribution of D coal zone = Resource polygon for D coal zone Area where Trout Creek and D coal zone are eroded
A'
5 Miles
Figure 23. Cross section and map view of the distribution of the Trout Creek Sandstone Member and the D coal zone, Danforth Hills coal eld, northwestern Colorado.
C25
G coal zone
Through this process, pseudo-outcrop lines for each coal zone can be generated using the combination of the overburden map to the top of the Trout Creek and the average stratigraphic distance above the Trout Creek to the base of every overlying coal zone. Because the base of the B coal zone is only 130 ft, on average, above the top of the Trout Creek Sandstone, we used the line representing the Trout Creek Sandstone to also represent the boundary of the area underlain by the B coal zone. Note how, from map to map, the areal distribution of each successively higher coal zone is reduced (g. 24).
D coal zone
F coal zone
E coal zone
C coal zone
A and B coal zones Resource polygons
Figure 24. Resource polygons generated using structural surface of the Trout Creek Sandstone Member, the average thickness of each coal zone, and a digital elevation model, Danforth Hills coal eld, Colorado.
C26
Resource Calculations
The results of the procedures discussed so far are net-coal-thickness grids and resource polygons that were used in the nal steps of coal-resource calculations. The Deserado assessment area, Lower White River coal eld (g. 1), is used as an example for the following discussion of calculating resources.
Once satised with the pseudo-outcrop line (zero overburden line), any other associated overburden lines and coal isopach lines, data were saved in ASCII format as a contour output le, which is one of the EarthVision plotting options. The program ismarc was then used to convert the contour output le from EarthVision to a le that is in arc-generate format. The output le from ismarc was then processed in ARC/INFO using an Arc Macro Language (AML) program (convert-ism.aml) that converted it into an ARC/INFO polygon coverage (g. 25). Both ismarc and convert-ism were provided by the Illinois State Geological Survey.
EarthVision
StratiFact1 Collect stratigraphic data from geophysical logs and measured sections, and store in StratiFact1 database A C data
AR
EarthVision
ismarc convert-ism.aml
U c
Figure 25. Part of ow chart (g. 2) showing where contour data are converted to ARC/INFO coverages.
Methodology for Calculating Coal Resources for the Colorado Plateau, U.S. Geological Survey National Coal Assessment Using ARC/INFO, a single polygon coverage was created that is the union of all polygon coverages for which tonnages were reported (g. 26), such as county, quadrangle, township, surface and coal ownership, and overburden- and coal-thickness categories.
C27
Interpretive Maps
BOUNDING RECTANGLE
3.5 2.3 3.5 1.2 7 3.5 1.2 7 14 2.3
2.3
Geographic and Cultural Maps

< 1.2 1.2 - 2.3 2.3 - 3.5 3.5 - 7 7 - 14 > 14
; ;; ;;; ;;;; ;;;; ;;;;; ;;;;; ;;;; ;;;;; ;;;;; ;;;; ;;;;; ;;;;; ;;; ;;; ;;;;; ;;;; ;; ;;; ;;;; ; ; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; Lease area;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ; ;; ; ;; ;;;; ; ; ; ; ;;;;; ; ; ;; ;; ; ; ; ; ;
2.3 7 7
3.5
2.3
BOUNDING RECTANGLE Townships
Overburden categories (ft)

< 500 500 - 1000 1000 - 1500 > 1500
7.5' quadrangles
BOUNDING RECTANGLE
Counties
Surface ownership Federal State and private

Coal ownership
Figure 26. Individual polygon coverages were all unioned using ARC/INFO to create a coverage that was clipped with the resource polygon.
C28
As a nal step before resources were calculated, this polygon coverage was clipped by the resource polygon using the identity command in ARC/INFO (g. 27). This nal polygon coverage was imported into EarthVision as a single polygon le. Although several attributes are associated with the individual polygons that make up the unioned polygon, the user is allowed to label only one attribute when importing the unioned polygon. The coverage-id attribute must be used to label the individual polygons within the unioned polygon because it is a unique identier for each polygon.
BOUNDING RECTANGLE
EarthVision
ARC/INFO
Calculate interpretive maps from queries of StratiFact database (isopachs, structure, etc.)
EarthVision
A Collect digital map data (geologic/geographic) and generate ARC/INFO coverages
Generate coal thickness grid to plot isopach maps, to create coal thickness category coverages and to use in coal resource calculations
Resource polygon
ismarc convert-ism.aml ARC/INFO
Final unioned polygon

evrpt
ArcView
Excel
Figure 27. Final unioned polygon coverage created from the union of all other polygon coverages that contain data for reporting coal-resource tonnage. Also shown is part of the ow chart (g. 2) where the nal unioned polygon was generated and imported into EarthVision.
Methodology for Calculating Coal Resources for the Colorado Plateau, U.S. Geological Survey National Coal Assessment The volumetrics utility ismarc2 EarthVision was used to calculate short tons of coal (g. 28). The grid of net-coal within thickness supplied the thickness values used to calculate coal tonnage within each polygon.
convert-ism.aml2
C29
ARC/INFO1
Convert contour data to digital coverages using The result of running ismarc2 and convert-ism.aml2the volumetrics routine is an
ASCII-formatted le (volumetrics report) that lists by polygon-id (same as coverage-id) a value for area and short tons for each polygon within the polygon le (g. 29).
Polygon ID 1 2 3 4
evrpt
Area 125,153 10,460 1,662,359 1,180,221
Short_tons Positive Area 102,750 10,366 1,310,989 1,483,251 125,153 10,460 1,662,359 1,180,221
Figure 29. Example output le from running volumetrics in EarthVision.
ArcView
Excel1
Figure 28. Part of ow chart (g. 2) showing where coal resources are calculated.
A program was written by the USGS called evrpt that converts this volumetrics report to a tab-delimited ASCII-formatted le. The evrpt program strips the header information from the volumetrics report and calculates the average coal thickness for each polygon that EarthVision used to calculate the short-ton value (g. 30).
ID Short_tons Positive EVthk 1 2 3 4 102750 125153 10367 10460 1310989 1662359 1483251 1180221 1.8 2.2 1.8 2.8
The resultant output le from the evrpt program was imported into ArcView as a table.
Figure 30. Example output le from running evrpt program.
C30
Generating Resource Tables

0-500 ft of overburden Coal thickness Township T2N R100W 0 0 0 T2N R101W 101 234 9618 T2N R102W 0 0 0 T3N R100W 0 0 0 T3N R101W 577 3716 6453 T3N R102W 3519 4699 13725 Grand total 4198 8649 29797 0 3200 4111 0 8242 26606 42160 1.2-2.3 2.3-3.5 3.5-7.0 7.0-14.0
Total 0-500
500-1000 ft of overburden 1.2-2.3 2.3-3.5 3.5-7. 7.0-14.0
Total 500-1000
>1000 ft of overburden 1.2-2.3 2.3-3.5 3.5-7.0 7.0-14.0
Total Grand >1000 Total
0 13154 4111 0 18990 48551 84807
0 0 0 0 630 0 630
0 0 0 0 2243 0 2243
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11427 17001 0 0 11427 17001
0 0 0 0 31302 0 31302
0 0 0 0 151 0 151
212 1247 35 105 0 0 9 926 976 1993 0 0 1234 4272
3916 25 0 193 23414 0 27550
5375 5375 166 13321 0 4111 1129 1129 26536 76829 0 48551 33209 149319
Figure 33. Example of coal resource table generated using the Pivot Table function within Excel. Data are from table in gure 32.
evrpt
Once in Excel, the Pivot Table utility was used to create tables that report resource estimates using any category in the spreadsheet (g. 33).
ArcView
Excel
Figure 31. Part of ow chart (g. 2) showing where coal resource tables are generated.
In ArcView, the table was joined to the attribute table of the ARC/INFO unioned polygon coverage (g. 31) using the polygon-id (EarthVision) and coverage-id (ARC/INFO). The result of joining the two tables is a new table with a record that contains a short-tons value for every polygon in the unioned polygon (g. 32). The joined table was exported from ArcView as a delimited ASCII le or a standard database le (.dbf) and read directly into a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel.
Area 125153 10461 1662360 1180222
ID Thk_cat Overb Surf 1 2 3 4 1.2-2.3 1.2-2.3 1.2-2.3 2.3-3.5 0-500 0-500 0-500 0-500 BLM BLM BLM BLM
Fedmins 7.5' Quadrangle Cnty All All All All Rangely NE Rangely NE Rangely NE Rangely NE Moffat Moffat Moffat Moffat
TR
Short_tons Positive EVthk Thous_tons 1.8 2.2 1.8 2.8 102 10 1310 1483
T3N R102W 102750 125153 T3N R102W 10367 10460 T3N R102W 1310989 1662359 T3N R102W 1483251 1180221
Figure 32. Example of table created in ArcView by joining output from evrpt with attribute table of the unioned polygon coverage. Item used to join the tables is the polygon-id.
C31
Conclusions
For the assessment of 20 coal zones in ve formations of the Colorado Plateau region, we established a method of taking coal-thickness data, combined with multiple layers of digital geologic and geographic data pertaining to coal distribution and coal-resource reporting parameters, to ultimately produce the most current coal resource estimates. As many as six commercially available software packages, ranging from simple conversion programs to GIS and twodimensional surface modeling programs, were used in conjunction with three custom programs to process the digital data. Because the end-products of the assessments are in digital format such as ARC/INFO coverages, stratigraphic databases, and spreadsheet les, it is possible to update resource estimates as new information becomes available.
References Cited
Dynamic Graphics, Inc., 1997, EarthVision,. v. 4. ESRI [Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.], 1998a, ARC/INFO, v.7.1.1. ESRI [Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.], 1998b, ArcView, v. 3.1. Gallegos Research Group, Inc., 1998, StratiFact, v. 4.5. Green, G.N., 1992, The geologic digital map of Colorado in ARC/INFO format: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 92-0507. Microsoft Corporation, 1997, Microsoft Excel [part of Microsoft Ofce 97], v. SR-1 Roberts, L.N.R., and Biewick, L.R.H., 1999, Calculation of coal resources using ARC/INFO and EarthVision: Methodology for the National Coal Resource Assessment: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-5, 4 p. Roberts, L.N.R., Mercier, T.J., Biewick, L.R.H., and Blake, Dorsey, 1998, A procedure for producing maps and resource tables of coals assessed during the U.S. Geological Surveys National Coal Assessment: Fifteenth Annual International Pittsburgh Coal Conference Proceedings, CD-ROM (ISBN 1-890977-15-2), 4 p. Wood, G.H., Jr., Kehn, T.M., Carter, M.D., and Culbertson, W.C., 1983, Coal resource classication system of the U.S. Geological Survey: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 891, 65 p.
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Chapter C

National Coal Resource Assessment

Click here to return to Disc 1 Volume Table of Contents

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625B*

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado 80225

U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey

17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33.

Colorado Plateau study area

100 Miles 106

Figure 1. Priority coal assessment units in the Colorado Plateau.

A Collect digital map data (geologic/geographic) and generate ARC/INFO coverages

Plot contour maps, check data, revise database (quality control)

Convert contour data to digital coverages using ismarc and convert-ism.aml

C Generate resource polygon

Import unioned coverage into EarthVision and run volumetrics

Generate resource tables using 'Pivot table' in Excel

Tools and Input

Plot contour maps, check data, revise database (quality control)

113 Generate resource polygon

Import unioned coverage into EarthVision1 Run volumetrics

Colorado Plateau study area (part)

Geographic and Cultural Maps

BOUNDING RECTANGLE Townships

Surface ownership Federal State and private Coal ownership

Coal-thickness categories (ft)

information not shown for lease area

Overburden categories (ft)

Coal A coal zone

Vertical scale 100 ft

Trout Creek Sandstone Member

FAULT--Bar and ball on downthrown side. THRUST FAULT--Sawteeth on upper plate.

2N 100 W 99 W 98 10 S 104 W 103 1N 3W 2W 1W 1E

A Collect digital map data (geologic/geographic) and generate ARC/INFO1 coverages

Plot contour maps, check data, revise database (quality control)

Convert contour data to digital coverages using ismarc2 and convert-ism.aml2

Generate resource polygon

Import unioned coverage into EarthVision1 Run volumetrics

Generate resource tables using 'Pivot table' in Excel1

A Collect digital map data (geologic/geographic) and generate ARC/INFO1 coverages

Plot contour maps, check data, revise database (quality control)

Total net thickness of coal 0-20 20-40 40-60 60-80 >80

107 30' 40 37' 30''

Coal-thickness categories (ft)

Cross section scales 100 ft

0 2.5 mi Horizontal distance in miles between drill holes

Mappable marine sandstone Coal Coal zone

-4000 -3000 -2000 39 45'

3000 -1000 6000 6000

7000 8000 9000

Case Study 1: Southern Piceance Basin

Mesaverde Group (part) or Formation (part)

Base of Coal Ridge coal zone

Base of South Canyon coal zone

Elevation (ft) above mean sea level 10,000

Pseudo-outcrop of base of Coal Ridge

Pseudo-outcrop of base of South Canyon Outcrop of top of Rollins

Vertical exageration approximately x 3

Surface from DEM

Overburden to top of Rollins

Overburden to base of South Canyon coal zone

Pseudo-structural surface, base of South Canyon

Cameo/Wheeler coal zone

southern part of the Piceance Basin